Fantasy Friday: Week 13 EPL Fantasy Tips

In this week’s Fantasy Friday I will be bringing you tips from the weekend’s Premier League matchups. Week 13 has several quality games coming up and EPL fantasy team managers will need to keep an eye on several of these matches to select the best players possible.

You can read up on my week 13 Premier League Predictions as well as the weekend’s Premier League Previews to get in depth analysis for each of the weekend’s matches.

As a point of comparison I’ll be using the statistics from the Barclays Premier League official Fantasy League.

Villa’s goalkeeper, Brad Guzan, is going to be your best choice from this match. Defenders Ron Vlaar and Leandro Bacuna are two other picks to look at as well. As far as attacking options go, Ashley Westwood has put in some good performances recently. Andreas Weimann and Christian Benteke have not done well, having only put in good performances early in the season. I would have a hard time recommending anyone from Sunderland. Their two best players have been defenders Adam Johnson and Emanuele Giaccherini and only because of the goals they have scored.

Aston Villa could have Antonio Luna return, although he is still listed as doubtful. For Sunderland they have Kieren Westwood listed as doubtful along with Modibo Diakite and Andrea Dossena.

Cardiff’s goalkeeper David Marshall continues to lead the Premier League in saves this season, which does make him a decent pick if you are looking for a cheap goalkeeper. However, in this match against Arsenal they could struggle defensively. Some other top players to look at for Cardiff include Steven Caulker and midfielder Pete Whittingham, both of which are cheap value buys. Frazier Campbell put in a good performance against Manchester United, but has been very inconsistent this fantasy season which makes it hard to recommend him.

Arsenal has several players that have been doing very well with fantasy stats including Forward Olivier Giroud, Midfielders Mesut Osul, Aaron Ramsey, and, very recently, Jack Wilshire. In defense there is Per Mertesacker and Wojciech Szczesny.

Between these two teams Everton has had the better fantasy players this season. Their best performer, Leighton Baines, is currently out injured so be sure to drop him if he’s on your team. In defense Everton has some other strong players including Tim Howard, Phil Jagielka and Seamus Coleman. Midfielder Ross Barkley is a valuable player to pick up at a good cost. Up front Romelu Lukaku has been getting better and better as the season goes on.

If you are looking to pick up some players from Stoke City Asmir Begovic has been their best player along with defenders Erik Pieters and Ryan Shawcross. Against Everton it might be a good idea to avoid Stoke players since I’m predicting Everton to dominant this match and come out as victors.

This might be a week to look at picking up some players from Crystal Palace, especially defenders, considering the appointment of Tony Pulis as their new manager. Norwich has several players out injured including Anthony Pilkington, Robert Snodgrass, and Ricky van Wolfswinkel.

Norwich’s defense might also be a good cheap pick up this weekend including John Ruddy in goal and defenders Steven Whittaker, Michael Turner or Russell Martin. In midfield there is also Leroy Fer, Nathan Redmond and Jonathan Howson. All of these players are under £6 with several under £5.

This season Jussi Jaaskelainen has picked up six clean sheets and against Fulham may be able to get another. West Ham will be without Winston Reid, who is out indefinitely, as well as Razvan Rat who is doubtful. Guy Demel has been a strong defender for them as well. In midfield they have had Kevin Nolan and Ravel Morrison.

This might be a good weekend to look at picking up some cheap players from Fulham. West Ham has been struggling and Fulham has several cheap players that could be valuable picks including midfielders Steve Sidwell and forward Bryan Ruiz.

Both teams have had something of a resurgence lately. Newcastle’s has been led by Loic Remy who is now one of the top fantasy players in the Premier League. This is a match which could go either way and picking players from either team could either pay off, or be a massive waste. For Newcastle both goalkeeper Tim Krul and midfielder Yohan Cabaye have put in solid performances recently and could be quality picks.

On the West Brom side, Liam Ridgewell is listed as doubtful while Billy Jones is out injured. Gareth McAuley has been the Baggies best player and could be a good pick in midfield, although, there are plenty of other better players to pick up in his place.

Goalkeeper Hugo Lloris has had seven clean sheets this season despite allowing six goals in last week’s match. Three other Tottenham defenders have been quality this season with Jan Vertonghen, Michael Dawson and Kyle Walker leading the way for the team. Despite scoring only one goal from open play, Roberto Soldado has still managed to amass quite a few points. Spurs players have a good spread of players that can get you points.

Manchester United has struggled to get many fantasy points this season, but Wayne Rooney has continued to lead the team. Robin van Persie and Patrice Evra are the next closest, but van Persie is listed as a doubt, along with Nemanja Vidic. This might be a good week to pick up Adnan Januzaj and Javier Hernandez if you want to take a risk. Spurs will most likely play a high line and Januzaj’s and Hernandez’s speed could be used to break the offside trap.

I would be wary of taking any players from Hull City this weekend. Their best player has been midfielder Robbie Brady. On Liverpool’s side they have Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez as two of the best Premier League fantasy players of the season. After this Steven Gerrard and Simon Mignolet have been fantastic. Defenders Glen Johnson, Daniel Agger, and Martin Skrtel have all been doing well and I’d expect a clean sheet from Liverpool this weekend. Jose Enrique and Iago Aspas are both out injured so stay clear of them.

Manchester City’s attacking players have dominated this season both in the league and in fantasy points. While expensive they also provide a lot of points. For forwards you can’t go wrong with Sergio Aguero while Alvaro Negredo has stepped up lately. The same is true for midfielders Jesus Navas and Samir Nasri while Yaya Toure continues to be a solid choice. At the back the only defender to really bring points to a Premier League fantasy team has been Pablo Zabaleta.

If you want to pick up players from Swansea, I would recommend staying away from defenders considering Manchester City’s dominance in the league, especially at home.

With Chelsea’s midweek loss and rotation policies it is a bit hard to predict who will be starting this weekend. Midfielders Eden Hazard and Oscar have been two of the best fantasy players, but are also fairly expensive. Defenders like John Terry and Branislav Ivanovic have put in plenty of time and could be quality pickups in a match that will likely be low scoring. Midfielder Frank Lampard has racked up quite a few fantasy points, but has also been inconsistent and seems to go in spurts.

Southampton has had several excellent fantasy players at cut rate prices. The nice thing about Southampton is that they have been fairly consistent so far and have provided a good value per points. At the moment Dejan Lovren and Luke Shaw are listed as probable. Midfielder Adam Lallana has been their best performer while defender Jose Fonte, forward Rickie Lambert and goalkeeper Artur Boruc have all been excellent picks.

2 Comments Comments

“Defenders Ron Vlaar and Leandro Bacuna are two other picks to look at as well. ”
Perhaps you meant Baker?

Better keep an eye out on how Arsenal midfield and Giroud will be affected by Walcott when he returns to the starting XI. Flanagan could be a short term fixture choice as he played well in his last outing if they don’t opt for Cissokho

Excellent points there. Like most of Villa’s back line, Baker has been inconsistent. He’s certainly a cheap choice to look at, but I would go with Bacuna first since he offers an attacking option with his ability to get goals.

Choosing a defender from Liverpool is tough right now, especially since Rodgers often goes with a 3-5-2. Flanagan could be a good choice, but also something of a risk, though Cissokho might be riskier considering his lack of consistent playing time this season.